Always Watching
by aptasi
Summary: Features an unusual matchmaker. "I have a great care for my master and his love, though they know so little." ADMM. Light.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** I have a great care for my master and his love, though they know so little. ADMM.

**Disclaimer**: I have no rights to Harry Potter. This story is written merely for recreational purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. This is an ADMM story. If you do not like the pairing, do not bother with it. Also, parts of this are somewhat cliché. Ye be warned

Always Watching

I doubt very much that they know who I am. Perhaps, though, someone would like to guess. Students know me very well. They see me every day. I have never spoken before. No? I am benevolent, yet sometimes frustratingly uncooperative. I am, as far as any can tell, a silent observer. Every summer they leave and do not go near me until autumn.

Yes, very good. I am Hogwarts castle. Pity I shall never put this riddle to any of them. My verbal skills are, to say the least, sadly inadequate to the task. The best I am able to do is make a few of them aware that I might have a consciousness of my own. Even then, they think they are simply being poetic with regard to some sort of network of spells, intelligence perhaps, but not a being.

However, I suspect that many might not be best pleased if they did know I live, think, and feel. Quite a lot of help I was, they might say. In whose protection, they might ask, was one Tom Riddle nurtured and cared for, allowed to construct his evil persona and make an early kill? Mine, of course. Under whose roof did so many of his Death Eaters grow up, learn the foul doctrine that pureblood was superior, and acquire the magical skills to commit their later crimes? Mine, of course.

Or perhaps, they would be particularly vexed regarding last year and the Chamber of Secrets. For, had a certain castle not contained said chamber in the first place, Riddle would have found no place to hide, no basilisk with which to terrorize my students, no plan at all. Instead, he petrified children, ghosts, and animals, while plotting the demise of the potential savior of the wizarding world. Oh yes, great job.

Let me make this as clear as possible. The Chamber of Secrets is an oozing boil on my back, where I cannot reach it to remove it, a festering puss hole. I do not condone it. I do not like it. I did not want it. I would blast the thing out if I could, which I cannot. Did you think having a poisonous snake crawling around in my plumbing against my will was pleasant? I cannot think of anything more repulsive! They were lucky I could not vomit.

As for nurturing Death Eaters I cannot do anything about that either. I try and then fail, and it is a helpless feeling that I absolutely hate, but nothing I do helps, ok? So, just leave me alone. Oh, right. I am a building talking to myself. No one accused me of anything. Pitiful.

I would not want anyone to get the idea that I am uncared for, though. No, my master takes excellent care of me. I am talking of course about Albus Dumbledore. Though, I doubt he would like me calling him master. Tells the house elves to call him a barmy old codger, her does. Now that is something I will never understand. Why would he want them to call him something he is not? I for one will call him what he is and not bother with connotations, or whatever he is so worried about. He will never know what I call him anyway. I cannot talk. Ironic.

Where was I? Oh, yes, my master. He works tirelessly to take care of the students and me. He even hired Rubeus Hagrid, who keeps the grounds around me so nice and comfortable. Mind, I am not entirely comfortable with his choice of Argus Filch, but I will admit that my cantankerous old caretaker is a hard worker. No bedside manner though, goodness.

Albus Dumbledore, right. What I was trying to say is that my master is in love. Normally, this is not something I would condone, but this is a special case. No worthless eye candy is this Lady, but a truly worthy woman. Thankfully, she loves him back. The object of my master's affections will not take time away from his life work or distract him from his protection of the wizarding world, the whole world if truth were known. Instead, they will make quite the formidable team. That is to say, I approve. She is quite worthy of him.

Now, before any accuse me of sentimentality, for I am breaking one of my own rules in approving of a human romance, let me explain precisely why I admire Professor Minerva McGonagall. In terms of intelligence, she is unmatched. I am particularly fond of intelligence, as I experience frustration when I see people whom nature has gifted with the powers of movement and speech but denied brains. What a waste. Those Crabbe and Goyle creatures, for example.

Additionally Minerva McGonagall has bravery and compassion. Or more precisely, she has a teacher-hero complex. I know, she never cries in public, never screams, and never breaks composure, so as not to frighten the students. You would think she was the one made of stone, had you not seen her alone as I have. Then, she does all three, but only for her students. Truly, the only thing to frighten her is the thought of someone harming her students. No one hurts her students on her watch, even if they were not her students for years. I have even known Minerva McGonagall to cry alone in one of my more deserted rooms for death eaters. She had no more reason to cry than that she had once taught them. Minerva McGonagall has never shed a tear for herself in all the time she resided within my walls. That alone surely deserves admiration.

Finally, I admire Minerva McGonagall for her temper. That may seem odd, but please remember I have no power of movement or speech. To sit and watch but never interfere is incredible frustrating. So, when I feel I can take no more, and Minerva McGonagall happens to loose her temper, especially if it is at the same incompetent fool I want to lose my temper at, can be…well… cathartic. Personally, I find no greater pleasure than in watching Minerva McGonagall tell someone off thoroughly.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. The point of all this excessive discussion is that my master and Minerva McGonagall, who I will henceforth call the Lady (as in Lady of the castle), are in love. My problem is that they do not know it. More to the point, they each think the other does not know it. That is utterly unacceptable. As no one else seems to notice, it becomes my job to get my Lady and master together. I just have to force them somehow to start dating without moving, speaking, or otherwise behaving like anything other than the castle I am. Great. This should be interesting…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:**I have a great care for my master and his love, though they know so little. ADMM.

**Disclaimer**: I have no rights to Harry Potter. This story is written merely for recreational purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. This is an ADMM story. If you do not like the pairing, do not bother with it. Also, parts of this are somewhat cliché. Ye be warned

**Chapter Two**

Oh wonderful, just wonderful. I would kill for a pair of arms and working legs. Not that I can kill but…. These two, I mean my Master and Lady, are utterly refusing to cooperate. I have been arranging meetings between the two of them, mostly by rearranging the corridors (That, at least, I can do), but to no avail. 'Good morning Albus' she says, as if that is the proper way to greet a future lover.

And then, he replies 'good morning Minerva' and that is the end of the situation. It is enough to give me the cracks. How can two such intelligent people be so dense?

Maybe it is something I have not thought of. An age difference, a professional relationship, or some other such nonsense only humans would care about. Well, shame for them, but I am not listening. I will not stop until they are together or I am a pile of stones.

The frustration! Argh! Tonight, my master and the Lady met in his office to discuss some trivial thing. She turned to leave, and I, hoping to increase their contact, expended an enormous amount of energy to move one of my stones, just by the slightest millimeter. I intended to trip her, thereby twisting her ankle and inducing him to accompany her back to her rooms. I hear humans find a twisted ankle rather attractive, or sexy, or whatever it is they call it.

Anyhow, my plan was going perfectly. The Lady tripped and was falling when suddenly she transformed into a cat. Then, she landed on her feet, of course. I am getting tempted to just lock the two of them in some room and refuse to open until they declare love. Unfortunately, I know the students need their headmaster and teacher. They had better hurry up or I might change my mind.

--

I will not lock my master and the Lady in a room.

I will not lock my master and the Lady in the dungeons.

I will not lock my master and the Lady in the astronomy tower.

I will not …. Ahhhh!

Oh, this is really too much. How are humans so dense? Why? Why? Why? What do I have to do to get those two together? This is positively infuriating.

Ok, now I am feeling vindictive. These two are driving me crazy. Therefore, I am tormenting them. Yes, I know, it is conduct unbecoming for a castle of my distinguished age and rank. I just do not care. If I make them miserable, perhaps they will seek each other out for comfort. Humans are strange creatures, after all.

Every morning now, when the Lady wakes up, her room is as cold as I can make it. Usually, I manage to crack her window too. A woman with a feline Animagus form must find that unpleasant. I am sure she is not enjoying it. With any luck, she will not be able to take it anymore and will wake Albus up in the middle of the night to complain. With any luck, she will stay in his room until the temperature in her room rises. It appears I have no luck at all. Figures.

My master on the other hand, is waking up to a sauna. I raise the temperature by as much as I can. To my gratification, he is also quite uncomfortable. I am not exactly sure what that is supposed to accomplish, but I would prefer to be fair. It seems excessively cruel to torment the Lady and not my master. I am a medieval castle, so I have to be chivalrous, sort of. Besides, my master is the greatest wizard of the century. He should be able to sense when a witch is in love with him and seduce her on his own, without help from an inanimate structure. Really.

I also have been rearranging the corridors, to exasperate them as much as possible. I think I have made my master walk an extra twenty miles this week. He is most wroth with me. I, on the other hand, am amused. At least, when he finally gets together with the Lady, he will be in good shape. From watching the students, I have gleaned that human women are attracted to athletic males. If I make him take the four-mile hike to the astronomy tower again, my master will be very athletic indeed.

--

O.K., now I am mad. I have started refusing to allow the food for their dinners to pass through the Great Hall table. I will not let them conjure anything either, and I get them hopelessly lost every time they try to find the kitchens. Every now and again, I allow a little bread and water to pass through, but that is all. If their friends try to share food, I cut off theirs for a while too. That taught them.

I'm not entirely sure what my rationale is for starving my residents, but if this doesn't drive them together, nothing will. Besides, I've noticed that many of my female students stop eating when they're trying to attract the notice of a man. I wouldn't know why; I am a building for Merlin's sake!

It is enough for me that students think it helps. They are human females, which is more than I can claim. If they believe the emaciated look is attractive, so be it. As for my Master, I'm still keeping everything even.

Now, do not worry, because I am not starving the students. Even when Miss Hermione Granger offered the Lady some of her food, I took no action against her. The Lady would not take any of it anyway. Proud cat.

Not that the Lady is doing all that well. I have seen her distinctly eyeing that rat belonging to one Mr. Ronald Weasley. Once, she even licked her lips. Pity she did not decide to eat it. Filthy things, rats. They chew tapestries and leave droppings. Utterly unsanitary. Besides, I find that particular rat rather unsettling. I am not sure why, but I get the feeling I have seen it before.

Anyway, I am now starving, exhausting, and heating/cooling my Master and Lady unmercifully. According to the students, who have been reading from what Miss Hermione Granger so derisively calls 'cheesy romance novels,' that is what sensations of romance feel like. Or something like that. I might have it wrong. I am a castle after all. I am not exactly an expert on sexual attraction. Oh, this would be so much easier if they would just get together by themselves!

--

Oh, no! I never should have interfered. I forgot how fragile humans are! I clearly know nothing about love, for they are still apart. However, I have done the unforgivable and caused harm to one of my occupants.

The Lady collapsed today in her class. It was horrible. One moment she was standing up in front of her fifth year Slytherins, teaching, and they next she was swaying and falling. Most of her students laughed at her, but one girl finally went for help. I considered sealing the Slytherin common room in punishment, but I have learned my lesson.

I feel so horrible. The Lady still has not woken up. I forgot how easily human beings are killed. If I have killed her, I will have destroyed both her life and my Master's. I can only wait now, my attention on the hospital wing, desperately wishing she would wake up. I deserve to be torn down for this.

She will wake up soon. She must.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** I have a great care for my master and his love, though they know so little. ADMM.

**Disclaimer**: I have no rights to Harry Potter. This story is written merely for recreational purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. This is an ADMM story. If you do not like the pairing, do not bother with it. Also, parts of this are somewhat cliché. Ye be warned

**Chapter Three:**

The Lady has finally awoken! My master arrived after about five minutes and sat at her bed the entire time. They had to force feed him to keep him from passing out too. Poppy Pomfrey poured as many refreshing potions down both their throats as she could, and they finally seem to be taking effect.

I am still incredibly upset about putting them in this position, of course. It does not make it any better that Severus Snape is now under strict instructions to 'find out why the bloody castle is starving them and fix it.' No, that does not help at all. Now that bat of a potions teacher is dousing me with dozens of the most unpleasant spells I have ever experienced. When will they learn that diagnostic spells do not work on stone? I briefly considered locking him up, but I know he is more that capable of blasting his way back out again.

When the Lady finally woke up, my master looked so relieved that I thought for a moment perhaps my plan had actually worked. However, their resulting conversation was intensely disappointing.

"Minerva," he said, "you're awake."

'So it would seem' she replied dryly. Normally I would be happy that she was sarcastic. That would mean she got her sense of humor back. I know at least that she is going to be all right. But should not her voice have been low, smooth, husky, or something? Not that I know anything, but really now. She might as well have been playing chess, for she often uses this tone when she's playing chess.

'I waited for you to wake up' he told her. Oh really? I wanted to ask. Can you not say anything less obvious? Pull yourself together man, and talk sense!

'Oh?' she asked. Really, can they not do any better? The love scenes in those books I see and hear the students reading never have such foolish lines. Instead, the books present clear straightforward declarations of love, plus some weird metaphors I do not understand. Maybe this is one of those. Like giving someone a star from the sky. Why would someone want a gigantic burning ball of gas, bigger than the entire earth?

"I was worried you might die." There is another obvious thing, but it seems to make her even angrier. Human females are so difficult to understand.

"I am not so weak that a little dehydration will kill me." Oh, is that where I overdid it? I suppose one cup of water a day was not enough. Do humans usually consume more than that? I had not noticed.

"I know." Did not he just say that he was worried she might die? Then he says of course not. This makes no sense.

"I'm going back to work. If I hurry I can make my last class." As I have just proven, I am no human doctor, but I do not think this is a done thing. People who pass out usually stay in bed. For once, my master seemed to agree with me.

"Minerva, you can't. You'll collapse again. I will not let you endanger your health in this manner." Well, that is straightforward. It even makes sense. She cannot be running around the castle after just fainting. Now, get her some flowers and seduce her already!

In any event, the Lady seemed to take this amiss. She tried to get up and nearly collapsed again. My master tried to go after her, but he was even less steady on his feet than she was. They both ended up on the floor of the hospital wing. I think that might be good, but something tells me this was not romantic.

In the end, they both concluded tucked into separate beds in the hospital wing. How could Poppy Pomfrey not put them in the same bed? Truly, all humans are hopeless.

--

Yes! Finally, something has happened. They are walking everywhere arm in arm. I may be just a building, but I know that is good. I try not to think that it might just be to hold each other up.

That little incident with the falling all over each other seemed to give them some ideas. At least, they have been behaving in a very friendly manner towards each other. They smile a lot, and other things. I know that is good.

Finally, they disappeared from my grounds together tonight, and they have not been back. It is well after three in the morning. I know it could easily be business, but I am getting really excited.

Oh dear, they could declare their love away from the me. I do not want to go through all this and not even see the results. I hate being a building.

--

So, my master and the Lady came back to the castle after their little midnight rendezvous. They stood outside her door and talked. This time, the conversation was, as the first years students would say, juicy.

"Albus, I love you but do we really have to keep doing this?" For a moment, I am thrilled. She said she loved him! However, soon I begin to worry. Where did the hesitation come from? Did she not like their date?

"You know that Voldemort can't find out, my dear." He called her dear! Wait, what is this about the Dark Lord?

"But do we always have to go to Hogsmeade? Why can't we stay here?" What is this about Hogsmeade? I feel so left out.

"You know we have to keep it a secret." Keep what a secret?

"The castle could move our rooms together," She purrs, "No one would have to know." My nonexistent ears perked up, so to speak, at this. I would certainly be glad to oblige, whatever it is they mean.

"Well, alright." He finally answers, "You know I can't say no to you Minerva. I will take care of it in the morning, if the castle has come to its senses. Happy anniversary." What!!

What! Did he say anniversary? "Best ten years of my life." She answers.

Great, so he did say anniversary. All the trouble I have been going through and they have been secretly married and going on trysts in Hogsmeade so they would not be caught together. Of course that means I had no way of knowing but….

I know nothing about humans.

I

Am

An

Idiot.

Stupid building.

**The End!**


End file.
